FUJITSU's Guide to Japanese

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82）Pronunciation of 'n''n' is a consonant, but pronounced the length of one mora. How it is pronounced depends on the sound coming after it. Though the pronunciation differs, it is always written as 'n' in Romanized letters.■When it comes before an 'n,' 'd' or 't,' it is pronounced 'n.'Example： おんな onna　woman　　うんどう undoo　exercise あんてい antei　stability■When it comes before a 'p,' 'b' or 'm,' it is pronounced 'm.'Example： さんぽ sanpo　walk　　しんぶん shinbun　newspaper ぶんめい bunmei　civilization■When it comes before a 'k' or 'g,' it is pronounced as a nasal 'ŋ.'Example： てんき tenki　weather　　せんげつ sengetsu　last month3）Pronunciation of 'ga'When the consonant 'ga' comes at the beginning of a word, it is pronounced 'g,' but in the middle of the word it is pronounced as a nasal 'ŋ.'Example： がっこう gakkoo　school　　おんがく ongaku　musicHowever, in recent years, many people use 'g' even when it is in the middle of a word. 4）Diphthongs （consonant + 'ya,' 'yu,' 'yo'）Diphthongs （きゃkya,きゅkyu,きょkyo,ぎゃgya,ぎゅgyu,ぎょgyo, etc.） are pronounced the length of one mora. Example： じゆう jiyuu liberty （じ　ゆ　う：3 moras） じゅう juu gun （じゅ　う：2 moras）　How to write kana（3）　To denote a diphthong, a small kana '－ゃ -ya,' '－ゅ -yu' or '－ょ-yo' is used.5）Double consonantsSome consonants have a 'k,' 't,' 's' or 'p' placed in front of them, making them double consonants. Double consonant '-kk,' '-tt,' '-ss,' and '-pp' are plosives, with the speaker pausing after pronouncing the consonant. The length of the pause is one mora. Example： もと moto　former（2 moras）　　もっと motto　more（3 moras） いか ika　squid（2 moras）　　いっか ikka　whole family（3 moras）Note that when a consonant is doubled, the meaning of the word changes. Example： して（います） shite （imasu）　doing して shite（2 moras） しって（います） shitte （imasu）　know しって shitte（3 moras）

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